Decisions, Decisions

It's here, finally!!!

My almond flour!! From the lovely Honeyville

I was ready to jump through the roof I was so stoked to see its little package on my porch this morning. Now I can get busy baking! Which brings me to...

Look at these little beauties!!

Something about me.. I am an obsessive planner. I make so many lists, love organizing things, and basically plan for anything possible. So I looked through my cookbooks, and tried to figure out what I would use my five pounds of almond flour on that would give me the best idea of its uses and tastes. I narrowed it down but...

How do I decide?

Now that the flour is here, I have no idea where to begin!! So I thought maybe you could help me decide.

I just made cookies the other day (they didnt turn out very attractive, so they didn;t make it to the blog.) so I know I don;t want to make a dessert. But a bread sounds fabulous. Here are my choices...

Cinnamon apple muffins

Zuchinni muffins

Scrumptious Sandwich bread (also to make french toast!)

Pecan raisin Bread

Muesli Bread

Spice cake muffins

Its a pretty tough decision.. Please help me as I am the least decisive person ever!

Last, I had a delicious salad yesterday that I wanted to share with you!

Upside down...

Its from this darling local restaurant, Rutabegorz. And this is their Summer salad. I wanted to pay homage to the passing season before I welcome autumn(!!!!!!!) with open arms.

The salad featured:

 romain lettuce

carrots

cucumbers

mandarin oranges

dried cranberries

candied walnuts (aka heaven)

blue cheese (I had them replace it with avocado, which I like much more)

sliced turkey (I picked most of it off, so I know it is good with or without :) )

light vinaigrette

MAKE IT!! so amazingly delicious. It was a nice balance to the cinnamon and pumpkin and squash I have been eating nonstop :)

Gotta run to work now, but I hope you all have a lovely day!!

Thanks for stopping by!

xox, Hannah

PS... What recipe should I make? and share, of course ;)

Gluten Free Spice Donuts!!

So I promised a recipe, and here one is!

Before I knew I was allergic to gluten, I would make homemade seitan. This meant that, while I eagerly await my almond flour's arrival via UPS, I had some extra soy flour to cook with! Now, soy flour is not delicious. Smells like beans, tastes like them, and trust me, I like edamame. So this is a bean-y taste in the worst way possible. I decided to google soy flour, and discovered that it is used in normal donut production! Fancy that! I may have been wanting a donut recipe anyway, since I just purchased this little beauty...

precious little donut maker that LOOKS like a donut!! aww... thanks Target!!

 So off to create a gluten free donut I went. And here is what I came up with :)

Start by setting your donut maker to heat while you mix. If you are baking little donut holes (if you don't have a donut maker) heat your oven to 350F.

Dry Ingredients (makes 5 regular size donuts)

1/2 cup soy flour

1/4 cup sugar (I highly recommend using a solid sugar, rather than agave. So if you prefer turbinado sugar, or any other kind, go for it! Except stevia. I tried that with one batch and... it was not a yummy outcome)

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt (use table salt rather than sea salt for some extra iodine!)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 to 1 tsp. cinnamon, depending on your preferences.

Mix these all up in a small bowl (cereal sized?) until thoroughly combined.

Wet Ingredients

1/4 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla, but use whatever floats your boat. rice or soy milk work too)

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbsp butter (I like earth balance!)

1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar



oops poor little butter got left out of the photoshoot!



Melt the butter in the microwave, and heat the milk slightly as well (this will help prevent curdling). Mix all dry ingredients together in a small bowl.

Then add the wet to the dry, and stir! It should look like this..

After that, spray your donut maker (or a nonstick baking sheet) with some no-stick spray. Then fill up the donut cavities with dough! Or form little ball-like shapes (they might not be very pretty since the dough is sticky, but hey, they'll be delicious!) to put on your baking sheet. It's okay if they don;t look so great, mine didn't either...

not cute :(

Then... let them bake! Mine baked for about 12 minutes and were golden and ready. I'm not sure how long donut holes would need to cook, so keep an eye on them :) Despite their humble beginnings, the donuts turned out lovely!

Then... the final moments! Pop those bad boys out of the donut cooker, and pick out your favorite one to munch on! I always pick the ugliest one to eat first... I don't know why. OCD? Regardless, get excited...!!!!

mmm... attractive early-morning face... sorry everyone!!

I don't like frosting, so I left mine plain, but you could certainly whip some up! Then, sit down to enjoy your baked goods with a nice cuppa joe.

yes, I color-coordinated my napkin and coffee mug.
and yes, I love the dodgers. don't be hating.

The best thing about these donuts is that they're healthy!! The soy flour adds lots of protein, and some healthy fats. Plus, baking them rather than frying makes them infinitely better for you. So munch away!!

But note to the baker... don't taste the batter. Trust me. Soy flour tastes great when it's cooked in the donut, but before... tastes like grass. I almost didn't even bake them the first time after tasting the batter. But once cooked, they taste completely different. So just take my word on it :)

I hope you enjoyed the recipe, because, let's be honest, who doesn't want a donut that is not only yummy, but actually GOOD for them?? Like.. These are good for you. Craziness. I'm in love.

Have a beautiful day!

xoxo

Hannah

A Friendly Hello!!

Well... This is it! After two years of admiring other people's foodie blogs, I finally decided to make my own. I'm really excited about it, although being the technically un-saavy-est person alive, who knows how well this will all turn out! Fingers crossed :) I suppose this would be a good place to fill you all in on myself, since this is the beginning and all... (plus I can't seem to figure out how to do an "About Me" tab.. sad times). So here goes!

All my life, I have been raised with an appreciation for food. I've always loved cooking, baking, and eating. During high school, I stopped taking care of myself, because all I wanted was the perfectly skinny body. This led to all sorts of bad decisions on my part, and denying my body of the care it needed. Now, five years after all that began, I'm finally ready to fix things! I have had some long term damage from all that thugh. I believe (although I haven't officially been diagnosed) that I have celiac disease, something that can be caused from eating disorders. I'm also lactose intolerant though, so I may have been likely to get celiac anyhow. Who knows! Either way, here I am, and I'm ready to start feeling good again!

As far as my eating goes, I don;t want to subscribe to any particular title. I have been vegan and vegetarian, and, while I loved how I felt, right now I am needing extra nutrients. So I am going to eat small amounts of meat, eggs, and dairy. I hope all you veggie peeps out there aren't offended :) This is extra important right now because I'm taking gluten out of my diet! Yikes! So I don't want to go all crazy and get stuck in a restrictive rut. I also strive to eat as clean a diet as possible, with minimal processed junk (although we will see how that goes...)

Anway! Anough rambling! If you've survived so far... wow I am impressed!

I'll leave you all with a list of things I'm currently lusting after :)

1. Almond Flour!!

I Just bought my first gluten-free cookbook, The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook. It appealed to me because the recipes are all healthy and delicious, and only use one type of flour (almond. duh) as opposed to many other GF recipes which call for a million different flours. This just seems simple and delicious. Plus, almonds are a great source of healthy fats and protein! Yay! Now I just have to wait until my bag of flour arrives... tick tock...

2. Apple Picking!



I love autumn. It's my favorite time of year! There's a place fairly close to me, called Oak Glen, that has amazing apple picking farms and cider and pie.. Heaven



3. Goodbyn!

It's pink. It saves the world because you don't have to use plastic baggies for your lunch. It comes with dishwasher safe stickers for your decorating pleasure.
Enough Said.
I must have a Goodbyn lunchbox!! Plus, since adding the gluten-free aspect to my life, I can't find anything to eat on campus. Tear! And some days I'm there for 13 hours straight. A lunch caddy is necessary. Plus it will encourage healthier eating, and cooking!

Speaking of cooking... Isn't that what all this is about? I wish I coud leave you with a recipe or a glorious picture of something I ate today but.. I dont want you to fall asleep from the worlds longest ever blog post! So I shall say goodbye. But be on the lookout for a recipe in the next couple days!!

xoxo

Hannah